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Auto alternatives for the 21st centuryFri, 31 Jul 2015 13:14:21 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2Scalextric-Inspired Full-Size Renault Zoe EV Racehttp://www.hybridcars.com/scalextric-inspired-full-size-renault-zoe-ev-race/
http://www.hybridcars.com/scalextric-inspired-full-size-renault-zoe-ev-race/#commentsThu, 19 Dec 2013 05:55:13 +0000http://www.hybridcars.com/?p=104498A lot of us have known electric cars in their simplest form when we were young: the Scalextric tracks. Renault decided to have fun combining its Zoe electric vehicles and the good old Scalextric race tracks in a video. Renault and electric vehicles are no strangers to motorsport – either in full-size racing, as Renault […]

]]>A lot of us have known electric cars in their simplest form when we were young: the Scalextric tracks. Renault decided to have fun combining its Zoe electric vehicles and the good old Scalextric race tracks in a video.

Renault and electric vehicles are no strangers to motorsport – either in full-size racing, as Renault will show with its partners in 2014 with the FIA Formula E championship, or in miniature in the form of the ever-popular skirting-board scarring Scalextric models.

Drawing inspiration from these two ends of the spectrum, Renault’s team took things one step further and race two full-size Zoes on a Scalextric track. The team asked: where better for the challenge to take place than against the iconic background of central London?

Compact, stylish, not to mention swift, with instant torque and a 0-31 mph time of only four seconds, Renault said its flagship electric vehicle lends itself perfectly to urban racing. It’s even perfectly weight distributed, thanks to its batteries housed directly under its core, doing away with the need for even Scalextric’s trick Magnatraction system.

Among the alterations shown in the film was a reworked undercarriage, including the fitting of specially-designed braids, keeping ZOE on the track, as well as an aerial to enable the car to be remotely operated from the sky.

A real full-size Scalextric kit!

In the three-minute long film, viewers get to see the track being prepared at night, set for race action early the next morning.

The race sees the white and black Zoes battle along a 1.9-mile specially created track. The race starts at the London Eye on Southbank, goes by Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, onto Embankment and The Strand, back over the River Thames, this time across Waterloo Bridge, then the BFI London IMAX cinema in the lead-up to the finishing straight alongside the River Thames.

“We really wanted to create something attention-grabbing for our electric vehicle range,” said Renault UK Marketing Director, Phil York. “Given our passion for motorsport, particularly in Formula 1, and the benefits of electric models in urban areas, racing our flagship model around the streets of the English capital was a perfect scenario. ZOE is eye-catching, cheap to charge, London Congestion Charge exempt, as well as free from emissions and pollutants in use.”